Who Are You, Really?
by Kaarie X
Summary: "Have you ever noticed how little we know about Jansen. . .?" "Well. . . I've actually always wondered about him. I was just hoping that you knew something. And it's also kind of strange that I know plenty about the rest of you, but nothing about him. I can practically list the most important details of each of your lives from before we even met, but not Jansen's."


He thought it was strange, having the title of 'King.' Especially considering where he came from. He had no experience with leading anything either, so he didn't even _try_ to put in his two-cents when ever something important came up after the wedding. Besides, Ming's been ruling Numara for over 1,000 years, she should have everything under control anyway. In fact, he was surprised that any of the citizens remembered that he's married to their queen, especially considering that he only wears casual attire when he leaves the palace.

"Excuse me, your majesty." A voice says. Jansen turns away from the window to look at the guard standing in the doorway. He steps away from and help-turns to him. "A _Kaim Argonar_ and two children requested to see you. Shall I send them away?"

"No, no. Send them up here, please." Says the king.

The guard bows and leaves the room. A few minutes later, he returns with the guests. Jansen thanks and dismisses the guard and invite the three to sit at the table in the middle of the room.

"Everything been alright with the mansion lately?" He asks.

"Yeah," Kaim reassures.

"You sure? None of those hand ghosts reading books in the study? No possessed knight armors jumping on the beds? No sudden cases of floating-house?"

Kaim smirked his oh-so rare smirk and shook his head.

A small frown comes across the king's face, he was hoping there was some kind of trouble. Ever since they defeated Gongora, there's been no reason to go adventuring again, and he was getting unbearably antsy. Nobody's even been willing to go to the Crimson Forest with him! And it wasn't like the guards - or should he say, _Ming_ - would let him go alone! He supposes that since everyone else in the old group - unlike him - had always gone on adventures or traveled to some exotic lands their entire lives, they're taking advantage of the currently world-wide peace. Unsurprisingly, working as a simple messenger for a "councilman" was an undeniably boring living before what he calls the _"grande expedition"_, save for the occasional uncontrollably wild drinking binge.

That seemingly endless quest he endured was without-a-doubt the best time of his life - despite all the countless near-death-experiences - and he wishes it could have lasted forever. But just like everything else in his life, it didn't.

Well. . . except for _a few_ things. . .

Sensing the discomfort of his guests from his long moment of silence, he clears his throat and asks, "So, what did you need?"

"We're looking for a treasure!" Cooke says excitedly.

"Yeah!" Mack says, jumping from his chair, "And it's a black magic spell!"

Jansen smiled, '_I guess this meeting really isn't a bust, then._' He thought.

"We're not sure exactly what it's supposed to do." Kaim says, "But we've heard a few things about it that lead us to believe it's very powerful. Sarah and I have done some tracking for a while, and we've concluded that it's somewhere inside Terrace Cave."

"Oh yeah?" The king inquires, "You don't know anything else about it?"

"Well," Cooke starts, "From what we've heard, we think it has something to do with weather, or something. . ."

Disappointment washes over Jansen, '_Just an elemental spell_?' He thought, '_I mean they** can** be powerful, it's just that their not that **unique** or** interesting **or **impressive **or **new**_. . .' He didn't let it get to him though, an adventure with a bad payoff is better than no adventure at all!

"When do we leave?" He asks

The children smile. "Let's go now!" They say in unison.

Kaim frowns at their over-eagerness. "We can't just take him now. We need to give him time to make arrangements with Ming and the guards before we take him with us."

"Nonsense!" Jansen says. "There isn't much going on lately! And besides, Ming's got everything under control!"

The immortal raises an eyebrow at the mage's unusual excitement, but then he nods and stands up. "Alright then. Let's not keep Sed and Tolten waiting for long."

Jansen almost frowns again. It was needles to say that he wasn't too fond of the gold-encrusted king _or_ the elderly pirate. Sed was almost exactly like his mother in every way, and Tolten - well, Jansen didn't want to say he was an out-of-touch snob, but he felt that the blonde took too long to grow up. Hell, he's _still_ not convinced that he's grown up! '_All well_,' He thought, '_Beggars can't be choosers_.'

He dismisses himself briefly to change into his old traveling robes. He couldn't help but notice that they were a bit looser than he remembered, perhaps because he no longer prepared his own meals, _and_ the fact that Ming's been making him hold out on the alcohol for a while. Before returning back to Kaim and the kids, he writes a quick note to his wife and leaves it on the dining hall table.

* * *

Jansen's first thought when he enters the Nautilus for the first time in years is how much he didn't miss riding in it. How these people he used to travel with could stand being aboard was a mystery to him.

After a brief 'hello' with the two of his least favorite traveling partners, he strides down the row of small bedrooms and stops at the very last one. Though it wasn't different from the others, for some reason, it was his favorite. To his dismay, however, he sees three people conversing as the door opened. '_Right,_' He thought, '_He has a crew_.'

One of the pirates stops speaking mid-sentence and looks at him. His face is blank for a few moments, then a smile lights up his face. "Hey! You're the king of Numara!" He yelled excitedly.

Jansen didn't reply. He simply stood there, shocked that anyone, let alone a random pirate, would recognize him as the king of the nation of pacifists. He didn't know whether to be flattered by the recognition, or angry that someone of an unknown origin would know his face better than the people of his own land.

But neither option seemed suitable when the pirate said, "So, uh, if you're riding with us, does that mean the queen's here too?!"

He frowned. '_Oh yeah,_' The king thought, '_I remember this guy. The over-zealous fanatic guy. What's his name? Ganjo? Gamlen_?'

At that moment Sed walked by the door and noticed the close proximity between his guest and his unruly shipmate. "Gondy, leave the man alone! The queen's not coming with us, alright?!"

Gondy recoils in fear of punishment and proceeds to throw apologies at both Jansen and his captain.

"Uh, i-it's fine." The kings says as he backs out of the room. '_Let's add another thing to the list of what I hate about this trip: more pirates_.'

Not wanting to interact with anymore of Sed's strange followers, he settles on sitting around in the cockpit with the not-so-little-anymore kids until night. The crew members come and go every now and then, trying to strike up a conversation with him. But he respectfully turns them away as quick as he possibly he can. One pirate, however, was exceptionally persistent in trying to get him to talk about his wife and had to be scolded by the captain of the ship several time before he gave up. At some point, he started talking to the twins. He asked about their studies, their magic skills, the mansion. He noticed how much of a man Mack is starting to become, and how lovely Cooke is acting now. It's almost unbelievable that it's only been five years since he last saw them.

Night came soon and Jansen became drowsy, but everyone else seemed just as lively as they were hours ago. '_At least** that** hasn't changed_.' He thought. It was no question that he was the one with the least endurance of the group, even now. Without a word, he waddles tiredly to the last room once again and is happy to see that no one is inside. He kicks off his boots and silently lays down on one of the bottom beds.

Back in the cockpit, Kaim and Tolten sit beside each other, leaning against the guardrails of the overseeing platform. Cooke and Mack occupy the seats on either side of Sed at the control panel.

"Kaim," Tolten says, "How long did you know Jansen before I met you in that cave?"

"Not long. We first met when he was giving me the message to go to Gongora's estate. That was the day before we left to check on the Grand Staff."

A small frown comes across the blonde's face, "I see. . . I only ever saw Jansen a few times whenever I went to visit Gongora. We never talked, but he always gave me a strange look. . ." He goes quiet.

"Why are you wondering about Jansen so suddenly?" Kaim asks.

"Well. . . I've actually always wondered about him. I was just hoping that you knew something. Haven't you ever noticed how little we know of him? And it's also kind of strange that I know plenty about the rest of you, but nothing about _him_. I can practically list the most important details of each of your lives from before we even met, but not Jansen's."

"Hmm." Kaim thought for a few moments. He realized that his young friend was right. He also knew a lot about all of their companions, except for Jansen. "He never talked about himself. We've haven't met anyone that's known him, which is even stranger considering the type of person he is. . ."

"Do you think he'd be fine with us asking him about himself?" Tolten inquired.

"We'll see," Kaim answered, "In the morning, before we enter the cave."

* * *

Ming removed the clip in her hair and gave a relaxed sigh as the pressure on her scalp went away. She had had a long day of revitalizing the magic barrier around the edges of Tosca village to keep the wandering monsters from the Black Cave away, and was not looking forward to doing the same with the village port of Samon the following day.

But that ache in her neck shall stay out of her mind until the time comes, right now, she's ready to return to her chambers and _unwind_ with her husband.

However, she's quite annoyed when she finds herself scowling at an empty room. Usually, Jansen would be laying splayed out on the bed, relaxing. It only figures that one of the very few times that she has nothing on her mind but to_ bond_ with her husband, he's not around. She let's out a huff, and immediately mentally scolds herself for doing something so childish. It's then that she notices a piece of parchment on top of one of the pillows. She snatches it up with more ferocity than she intended and quickly skims through it.

"Oh dear. . ." Ming whispers to herself as worry overtakes her.

How she wished that Jansen had written where they were headed, then maybe she could prevent him from being hurt. Yes, it was a bit selfish of her to not allow him to go traveling through the years they've been married. But with what she learned of him, she felt completely justified to keep him in a circle of safety! Well, not _completely_, but. . .

She sighs and says to herself, "He's not a child, Ming, he's handled himself his whole life, he can handle himself for this trip."


End file.
